UP member gunned down in Bandarban

A gang of miscreants on Thursday gunned down a former union parishad member in Rowangchhari upazila of Bandarban.

The incident took place at Notunpara area, said Rowangchhari police station Officer-in –Charge (OC) Monir Hossain.

The deceased was identified as Sa U Pru Marma, 55 was a former member of No 1 Union Parishad of Rowangchhari upazila.

Quoting local residents, police said some miscreants armed with weapons shot Sa U Pru Marma in the head while he was on his way home at around 8:45pm. He died on the spot.

Sa U Pru Marma was a supporter of the Jana Samhati Samiti ( MN Larma) group. He might have been a victim of long standing factional clashes between the Jana Samhati Samiti ( MN Larma) group and Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS- Santu Larma) group, locals said.

Commenting on the matter, Rowangchhari police station Officer-in –Charge (OC) Monir Hossain said: “Police have recovered the dead body from the spot and are conducting drives to arrest the culprits.”

On October 10, (Saturday), a JSS (Reformist-MN Larma) leader was found dead in Bandarban Sadar upazila.

The deceased, Bachmong Marma, 45, was shot dead allegedly by local goons at Jamchhari Bazar of the upazila on Saturday. His position in the political party, Jana Samhati Samiti (Reformist-MN Larma), is yet to be confirmed.

As recently as July 7, at least six members of JSS (Reformist-MN Larma) were shot to death at Baghmara of Bandarban Sadar upazila.

Among the dead were Ratan Tanchangya, Bandarban unit president, David Marma, a member of the executive committee, and Bimol Kanti Chakma, vice president of the central committee.

The other deceased were Robin Chakma, Ripon Tripura and Gyan Tripura, all members of Jubo Samiti, a front organization of JSS (Reformist-MN Larma).

Sources at the time had said members of the JSS (MN Larma) group were holding a meeting at Ratan Tanchangya’s house when a rival group ambushed the house from all sides and fired indiscriminately. Six persons died on the spot while two other members, Biddut Chakma and Niru Chakma, received bullet injuries.

It is to be noted that in the last 22 years, more than six hundred people have been killed in turf wars among the regional political parties based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Besides, numerous abductions and assaults have also taken place during the period.